Sir Robert G. Sandeman, K.C.S.I., peaceful conqueror of Baluchistan

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SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

FROM A PORTRAIT BY THE HON. JOHN COLLIER

Frontispiece

PIONEERS OF PROGRESS

EMPIRE BUILDERS

edited by A. P. NEWTON, M.A., D.Litt., B.Sc, and
W. BASIL WORSFOLD, M.A.

SIR
ROBERT G. SANDEMAN

K.C.S.I.

PEACEFUL CONQUEROR OF BALUCHISTAN

BY

A. L. P. TUCKER, CLE.

FORMERLY OF THE POLITICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

WITH A PORTRAIT AND MAP

LONDON:

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING
CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE

NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1921

^

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CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introductory 5

CHAP.

I. Early Years . 8

II. The Indian Frontier 12

III. Among the Tribesmen 21

IV. The First Mission to Kalat 27

V. Kalat Again 34

VI. Quetta in the Afghan War 43

VII. The Further Settlement of Baluchistan ... 51

VIII. Last Days 58

449869

Hi

INTRODUCTORY.

Sir Robert Sandeman was one of many of our
countrymen who have given their lives to the service of
our Empire on the Indian frontier. He spent his life
there, from early manhood until his death on January 29,
1 892, in his fifty-seventh year. " He died, as he lived,
in the discharge of his duty" — says the inscription on
the memorial tablet in our church at Quetta — " Fervent
in spirit and serving the Lord." The truth of these few
simple words is not to be challenged. It is manifest to
all who knew and remember him, as well as to those who
know the wild country which he served so well. There
his memory is yet green and his name still casts a
spell.

It was in Baluchistan, the southern portion of our
Indian frontier, that his life's work was done. That wide
region of mountain and desert he found in a state of mis-
rule and misery, at times of open civil war. At his death
he left behind him a well-ordered country where British
influence was supreme and — more than that — welcome.
His was no military conquest. No great victories in the
field marked his career. Force was not his weapon, al-
though, on proper occasion, few could be more forceful
or swift to act than he. In a country where bravery is
the first of native virtues, his courage was often tried and
his fearlessness well known. But over and above these
qualities, which in our frontier service have been common
and indeed are expected, there was in him much more.
His leading motive, so strong that it was almost a passion,

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6 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

was love for his fellow-creatures, especially the half-
civilised peoples among whom his life was spent. It was
a delight to him to adjust their fierce quarrels, and re-
dress the grievances among them which caused so much
misery and bloodshed. This, coupled with a strong
sense of duty and inexhaustible tenacity and patience,
made him the great man that he was. For Sandeman
was great undoubtedly, although he himself did not know
it. "I might have been a great man," he once remarked
in his home circle, "but for the telegraph." Official
distinction was probably in his mind when he spoke : of
this no great share fell to him. His greatness lies rather
in the work which he actually did, the value of which is
now clearer than it was in his lifetime. He came to that
wild country as a messenger of peace and goodwill, much
opposed, much misunderstood, and greatly daring.
Peace and goodwill were the foundations that he built
upon : a structure so founded was bound to last. In his
lifetime his influence and hold upon the country stood
firm in the Afghan War of 1878-80 under the most
exacting strain. After his death the widespread frontier
troubles of 1 897 did not affect Baluchistan. And now,
in the past few years, when the strain on our Indian
frontier has been greater and more protracted than ever
before, Baluchistan has proved a source of strength and
security. It has most amply fulfilled its founder's hopes
and plans.

Sandeman's life ] has already been written by his con-
temporary, Dr. T. H. Thornton, who was Secretary to
the Governments in India under which Sir Robert
worked. This book is of great value and gives a full and
sympathetic description of Sir Robert and his work.
Much more, however, has been made public during the
twenty-five years which have passed since the "Life"
appeared ; and his story will bear telling again in the

1 Thornton's " Life of Sir Robert Sandeman ". Murray, 1895.

INTRODUCTORY 7

briefer fashion of this series of Empire Builders, among
whom he merits a high and honoured place. The writer
can only claim that, holding for upwards of two years
(1905-7) the same office, he was able to learn on the spot
how marvellous was the hold on the chiefs and peoples
of Baluchistan which Robert Sandeman had established,
and which his memory and system maintained.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY YEARS.

Robert Groves Sandeman was born at Perth on
February 25, 1835. He came of a good old Scottish
stock, which gave to Perth in the seventeenth and eight-
eenth centuries several distinguished citizens. One of
the best known was Robert Sandeman, who founded the
" Sandemanian " Church of simple Christian people, to
which the great scientist Faraday belonged. This Robert
died in America in 1771. His "patience, boldness, and
love of conciliation " passed in a marked degree to his
namesake and kinsman a century later. His fourth
brother, Thomas, was Treasurer and Magistrate of Perth.
Thomas' grandson, Robert Turnbull Sandeman, entered
the military service of the East India Company in 1824.
His regiment was the 33rd Bengal Infantry which he
commanded throughout the first Sikh War. He retired
in 1862 with the rank of Brigadier-General. He married
a Miss Barclay, and Robert, the subject of this memoir,
was their son.

Robert was one of a family of ten. When he was ten
months old his parents returned to India, leaving him
and his elder brother in the care of his aunts at Perth.
For these four ladies, who were unmarried, Robert had
and retained a lifelong affection. Their love he never
forgot : the strong religious beliefs, which they imparted,
he carried with him all his life. He did not see his
father again until many years later, when he arrived in
India, a young military Cadet, as his father had been

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EARLY YEARS 9

before him. Then father and son at once became fast
friends and companions : the man and the boy loved
each other.

Robert was sent to school at the Perth Academy, and,
later, to St. Andrews University. At neither did he
distinguish himself. He was not studious then or
afterwards. Nor was he, when a boy, great at athletics.
He was a strong fellow, mischievous and bold enough,
ready to fight on occasion, tender-hearted to animals,
and very sensitive and affectionate. When a home letter,
which he expected, did not come, he walked thirty miles
to Perth to find out the reason. Dr. Miller, his old
schoolmaster, thus summed him up before he sailed for
India : —

" Robert Sandeman ! Ye did little work at school,
but I wish ye well. And I would not like to be the
Saracen of Bagdad or the Tartar of Samarkand that
comes under the blow of your sabre."

Robert went to India in 1856. Although for a brief
while he had tried life in a business office, he was resolved
to be a soldier. So he sailed as soon as his commission
was granted, bearing with him a pleasant face and
manner, a stout frame and heart, little learning, and no
interest. In India he soon joined his father's regiment.

Early in 1857 rumours were afloat in India of danger
and coming trouble. The mysterious unleavened cakes
were being passed from village to village. Mutiny by
the native army was in the air. By May the cloud had
burst in the outbreaks at Meerut and Delhi, and the storm
was gathering strength on all sides. The disarming
of all doubtful or disaffected regiments was ordered.
Among them was the 33 rd.

Colonel Sandeman was one of many British officers in
the Indian Army who absolutely believed in their men.
He and his officers, says Lord Roberts,1 trusted in them

111 Forty-one Years in India," Lord Roberts, Vol. I., Chap. X.

to SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

"to any extent". The disarming was carried out on
June 25, at Phillour, immediately after that of the 35th
regiment, and on the same parade ground. In both cases
the command was obeyed by the sepoys without a word.

The order came to Colonel Sandeman and his officers
as a bolt from the blue. They had been told nothing.
The Colonel, on hearing it, exclaimed — " What ! Disarm
my regiment ! I will answer with my life for the loyalty
of every man." When Roberts repeated the order he
burst into tears. In later life Sir Robert told Lord
Roberts how terribly his father had felt the disgrace of
his old corps.

Lord Roberts makes it clear that there was great feel-
ing. The officers of the 33rd, he says, did not take things
so quietly as those of the 35 th had done. The scene
must have been distressing to all, and especially to father
and son. The latter acted admirably, with perception
and discretion beyond his years. No doubt he softened
the blow to his shocked and overstrung father. He did
not share his father's sublime confidence in the sepoys.
For some time past he had followed him through the
lines, carrying a loaded pistol, ready to shoot the first
man who threatened the Colonel's life. He had also
escorted his two sisters to a place of greater safety, all
three disguised as natives. It is pleasant to record that,
after the disarming, the regiment remained faithful. The
arms were publicly restored when the crisis was over.

After the disarmament the younger Sandeman was
transferred to another corps. He volunteered for active
service before Delhi. After its fall he took part in
various operations. He was in the storming of Dilk-
husha and the final capture of Lucknow. He was twice
severely wounded, and gained a high reputation for
pluck and zeal. Report has it that he was sent to carry
despatches to Sir John Lawrence, over a dangerous tract
infested by mutineers, and that he performed this duty so
quickly and well that Sir John offered him civil employ-

EARLY YEARS n

merit under the Panjab Government It is probable that
Sir John, who knew most men and things in his Province,
took no leap in the dark when he made the offer. He
and Colonel Sandeman were old friends. He knew the
Phillour story and the young man's fighting record as
well. Robert was still anxious to be a soldier : however
he accepted the offer. In May, 1859, therefore, his
strictly military career ended and he entered civil employ.
After two and a half years' training in administration he
was posted to the Panjab frontier. He brought to his
new work an experience of men and things which must
have been unusual in so young an officer, even in those
stirring times.

CHAPTER II.

THE INDIAN FRONTIER.

By the "frontier of India" is meant the north-west
frontier : for the north-eastern frontier is impassable.
With the far east borders, which touch China and Siam,
this memoir is not concerned. The south-east and south-
western borders of the great Dependency are, of course,
the seas, by which we entered India and by which we
hold it. The north-west frontier is India's land frontier.
Our dealings with it commenced little more than a
century ago, and form in our Indian history a chapter of
their own.

The frontier is some twelve hundred miles long, and
is fenced by mountain barriers which stretch from the
Himalayas to the coast of the Arabian sea. The river
Indus may be conveniently taken as its base line, from
the point where the stream bends southward in the
great mountain ranges, to the sea which it reaches below
our harbour at Karachi, the port and capital of Sind.
But the river is by no means the frontier itself: that lies
considerably to the west of it. The distinguishing-
feature of the frontier is that its mountain walls are
pierced by passes, by which the plains of India have been
entered and overrun from Central Asia from time im-
memorial. These passes are very few. The physical
features of the frontier are stupendous. Its distances are
immense. The mountains from which the river Indus
flows are the highest in the world ; and the river itself is
one of the greatest known to geographers. In the Indus

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THE INDIAN FRONTIER 13

valley and the foot-hills beyond it the heat of summer is
terrible. In winter the cold is bitter everywhere, and
above the lower levels it becomes piercing. So scorching
is the heat of the desert which lies at the foot of the
Bolan pass, that the native proverb says of the village
there, " Having Dadar, why did the Almighty create a
hell ? " The aspect of the mountains round the pass is
so forbidding that Sir Charles Napier was moved to say,
that this must be the place where, after the creation of the
world, the spare rubbish was shot down. Of the passes
the Bolan and the Khyber are the principal. The first
leads from the Sind desert to Quetta, whence lies the
road to Kandahar, the chief city of South Afghanistan.
The Khyber leads from our border city of Peshawar to
the Afghan border and the road to the Afghan capital,
Kabul. There are other passes, but they are less im-
portant.

These passes, or their ancient and mediaeval equivalents,
have witnessed the passage into India of many invading
hosts and hordes. Alexander the Great's legions (327-5
B.C.) came through them ; as did armies led by Grseco-
Bactrian kings who ruled in Central Asia after his time.
One of these,1 Menander (153 B.C.) was the last general
of European extraction to lead an army into India by
land. Great Hindu emperors controlled the frontier
country in and about the Christian era. Buddhist re-
mains still attest their ancient supremacy. In the long
centuries that follow, Hun, Tartar, Afghan, Moghul, and
Persian hosts have swept down the passes and plundered
India below. The wasting of Baluchistan by the great
Timur (A.D. 1399) is still remembered there with shudder-
ing and dread. The last two of the invaders were Nadir
Shah, the Persian conqueror who sacked Delhi (A.D.
1739); and Ahmed Shah Abdali, the Afghan King of
Kabul, who repeated the exploit (A.D. 1756). These

1 " Early History of India," V. A. Smith, Chap. VIII. Oxford, 1904.

14 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

two invasions took place when the empire of the Great
Moghul at Delhi had fallen into decay.

The peoples that dwell in the frontier countries match
well with its stern conditions. They are hardy, brave,
fierce, and lawless. They have long been Mohammedans ;
though the precise dates when they embraced Islam are
not known. The Arabs from Mesopotamia entered
Baluchistan in the eighth century, passing through the
coastal country between Persia and the Indus. They
conquered the lower and middle Indus valleys, and held
them for two centuries, when their rule ended. The date
of the conversion in this region has been placed in this
period. The inhabitants of the frontier country at the
present day are composed, broadly, of two races. The
tribes on the northern portion, from the Himalayas to
the middle Indus valley, are Pathan. From there to the
sea the tribes are Baluch, or akin to Baluch. Between
the two races there is a considerable difference. The
Pathans (the name is supposed to mean " hill-men ") x
include the Afghans, by whom we generally mean the
inhabitants of Afghanistan proper. There are numerous
Pathan tribes and clans outside Afghanistan. The
Afghans call themselves children of Israel, although it
is not clear that they claim Jewish descent.2

The Baluch, who have given their name to Baluchistan,
by tradition came from the region of Aleppo, whence they
migrated, through Mesopotamia and Southern Persia, to
Baluchistan. They are said to have first settled in the
coastal tract which is called Mekran, and borders with
Persia. This is the country where Alexander's army
suffered cruelly from thirst on its way back to Persia.

The Baluch then moved north-eastwards in the direc-
tion of the Indus valley, in which the towns of Dera
Ghazi Khan and Dera Ismail Khan bear the names of

1 Thornton's "Sandeman," Chap. II.

9 Ibid. t Chap. II. ; also " The Life of Amir Abdur Rahman," Vol. II.,
Chap. VII. ^Murray, 1900.

THE INDIAN FRONTIER 15

Baluch chiefs, who pitched their encampments (de>as)
there. The Baluch migration was followed by that of
the Brahuis ! (Brohis), who occupied the tracts which the
Baluch had vacated, and fixed their stronghold at Kalat
in the uplands. The date of neither migration is known.
The Brahuis also came, by their tradition, from Aleppo.

Both Baluch and Brahuis are divided into numerous
tribes and clans. The Murrees and the Boogtis are,
perhaps, the chief Baluch tribes. The Brahui tribes
form a loose confederacy, of which the Khan of Kalat is
the head. They are divided into two main groups — the
highlanders (Sarawans), who inhabit the uplands; and
the lowlanders (Jhalawans), who live in the country
below. The Brahuis greatly outnumber the Baluch.

The Baluch, though fierce and warlike, are not fanatical
or bigoted. They are brave, with a bold and manly
bearing and frank manners ; good horsemen, and of good
physique. Their long oiled curls, which hang down to
their shoulders, give them a most striking appearance ;
and a Baluch chief in gala dress is a fine figure of a man.
They are profuse in hospitality and expect to receive it
in equal measure. The Brahuis are not unlike them, but
are less striking and martial. The Baluch appear to be
the older and purer race. They do not give their
daughters in marriage to the Brahuis, but the latter will
marry daughters into a Baluch family, without scruple.2
Some of the Brahui clans are called Baluch : others seem
to have absorbed Hindu and other races whom they
found in the country. The Baluch recognise and obey
the leader of the tribe, or "Tumandar," as he is called —
" the leader of ten thousand ". With the Pathan tribes
this is, generally, not the case. Here the tribesmen
are democratic, obey no authority for long, and are,

1 Colonel Webb Ware, "Journal, Central Asian Society," Vol. VI.,
1919.

2 •* The Brahui Language," Bray, Part I., 1919, Introduction, CzU
cutta, 1909.

16 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

moreover, fanatical, vindictive, and treacherous. The
Pathan tribes in Baluchistan live in the country north-
east of Quetta, which includes Pishin, and the Zhob
valley and its outskirts.

The whole tribal country has been called " Yaghistan,"
or the " country of the lawless/' by all outside authorities
that have had to deal with it, Persian and Afghan as
well as ourselves. The love of freedom is strong in all
the border tribes, although Baluchistan has never been
independent for long. This passion for independence
would merit respect, were it not for the fierce and cruel
rapacity which has long made and still makes the
tribesmen a terror to their peaceful neighbours in the
plains.

In the days of the Moghul Empire at Delhi, which
Babar founded in 1526, the frontier country was con-
trolled by Viceroys or Governors at Kabul and Kandahar.
This last province was wrested from the Moghul by
Persia. On the break-up of the Persian Empire, after
Nadir Shah's death in 1 747, a powerful Afghan kingdom
was established by Ahmed Shah Abdali. This covered
much of the frontier region and the Panjab, while the
Afghans further claimed suzerainty over the Amirs of
Sind. Ahmed Shah died in 1773. His successor was
ousted from the Panjab by the powerful and warlike
Hindu government established by the Sikhs at Lahore,
which developed into the Sikh kingdom ruled by the
famous Maharaja Ranjit Singh. By this ruler the
Afghans were driven beyond the passes, and the Sikh
border was carried to the foot of the network of mountains
that forms the home of the Pathan tribes. In the
southern portion of the frontier Afghan rule was better
preserved. But Baluchistan contained a ruler of its own in
the Khan of Kalat, the head of the Brahui confederacy.
Nasir Khan I. (1755-95) was the great Khan of Kalat,
and is still the hero of Baluch legend and lay. He con-
trived to avoid absorption, proved a useful ally both to

THE INDIAN FRONTIER i;

the Persian and the Afghan, and added much to his own
dominions and power.

Our dealings with the frontier countries commenced in
1809. We were then engaged in our great struggle
with France, and Napoleon had planned to attack our
Indian possessions, in concert with Persia. The value
of a friendly alliance with Afghanistan was realised, and
a treaty was concluded with Shah Shuja, the Afghan
King. Shah Shuja was soon afterwards driven from his
country and replaced by a ruler of the Barakzai dynasty ;
but the danger from France had ceased in 18 15. By
that time British ascendancy was established in India,
and we controlled the whole country, except the two
frontier kingdoms of the Panjab and Sind. With
Afghanistan and Baluchistan we had little to do.

By 1837 a new danger to India had arisen — the ad-
vance of Russia in Central Asia. This menace, which
still exists, has been ever since a dominant factor in the
frontier policy of the Government of India. The exiled
Afghan ruler, Shah Shuja, had sought refuge in India,
and had more than once endeavoured to regain his
throne. Afghanistan was now of prime importance to
India, as an outwork against the aggression of a great
foreign power ; and Baluchistan, which marches with
south Afghanistan and Persia, was hardly less so. We
engaged to replace Shah Shuja on the throne in Kabul,
and he guaranteed to us in return a friendly alliance.

The project failed disastrously. British armies were
sent up the Indus, with a contingent under Shah Shuja.
They passed up the Bolan and through Quetta and
Kandahar to Kabul in 1838. There the exiled ruler was
reinstated and maintained for two years. In 1 84 1 there
was a general rising against both him and us. Our
envoys at Kabul were murdered ; and our Kabul garrison,
compelled to retreat to India by the nearest road, was
massacred on the way. Avenging armies were sent from
Kandahar and India to Kabul. They withdrew in 1842,

2

iS SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

when Afghanistan regained, in Amir Dost Mahomed, a
ruler of its own choosing.

A minor incident in this unhappy story was the storm-
ing of Kalat in 1839. The Khan had engaged to sup-
port us. He was — unjustly, as it proved — suspected of
treachery. Kalat was stormed by our troops and Khan
Mehrab died fighting in defence of his fort and palace.
His death was followed by disorder, in which our agent
at Kalat was barbarously murdered. Mehrab Khan's
son was installed as his successor, partly in tardy justice
to his father's memory, partly as the best means of paci-
fying the country ; and a treaty was concluded with him
in 1 841, which was negotiated by Major, afterwards Sir
James, Outram. Sandeman used to tell afterwards that
this son, Khudadad, the young Khan of his day, could
never speak of his father's death without marked agita-
tion and grief.

During these hostilities our troops and transport
suffered heavily all along the immense line of communi-
cations from the tribesmen, who lost no opportunity of
plundering and murdering the unarmed and unwary. On
the Baluchistan side the Murree tribe were the most
mischievous. In 1840 a force was sent to their country
to punish them. One detachment was surrounded and
besieged at Kahan, the chief Murree village. It was
withdrawn after a memorable defence, but not until a
relieving column had been beaten back by the tribesmen,
who captured three guns and almost destroyed it. Two
of these guns were recovered in 1859. The third, which
could not then be found, was still in Kahan twelve years
ago.

In 1843 we conquered the Amirs of Sind and annexed
that country. We were then, for the first time, brought
up against the tribal country, border to border. Our
border, or rather the only dangerous part of it, was
covered by the Sind desert, which stretches from the
Indus to the foot of the hill countrv and the mouth of

THE INDIAN FRONTIER i£

the Bolan pass. This desert, which is the hottest part of a
burning country, is about 200 miles long and 1 50 across.

In 1845 and again in 1848 we were at war with the
Sikhs : for on the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839
his kingdom had lapsed into anarchy. The Sikh armies
were defeated after a very severe struggle, and the Panjab
became a British province. We were then again brought,
border to border, with the tribal country over a long
stretch of 800 miles. And here, all along, the tribes are
Pathan, except at the southern extremity where the
Panjab and Sind meet, and the Baluch tribal country
begins.

One of the first tasks of our two border administra-
tions was the protection of the Indian plains. Sir Charles
Napier, conqueror and governor of Sind, was compelled
by continued raids to march into the Murree and Boogtee
tribal country in 1845. He proclaimed the tribesmen to
be outlaws, and offered a reward for every one of them
who was killed or captured within his borders. He tried
to guaru his border by military posts and forts ; but he
had little success until, in 1847, he formed a frontier
force, and gave its command to Captain, afterwards
General, John Jacob. Jacob soon brought the raiders
under control. Disdaining the use of forts or defensive
posts he used his troopers to wage swift and unceasing
war against cattle-lifters and all who harried the plains.
The desert and its heat were no obstacle to his in-
domitable energy and courage. In 1847 a force of
marauders, seven hundred strong, was cut off by a
detachment of the Sind Horse under Lieut. Merewether.
The band was destroyed, only two men escaping death
or capture. This, with other successes, effectually
stopped the evil. Nor did Jacob confine himself to
watch and ward. He dug canals, made roads, and
founded in the desert the thriving town of Jacobabad
which is called after him. He also conducted our rela-
tions with the Khan of Kalat, with whom he had much

20 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

influence, and arranged with him the treaty of 1854.
Jacob clearly saw the value of Quetta ; and in 1855 he
was as anxious that our troops should be there, as
Sandeman was many years later. Jacob left the frontier
in 1855 : he returned there to die in 1858 at Jacobabad,
where he is buried. In the Mutiny he would have been
given a high military command, had he not been struck
down suddenly by fever. His early death was a heavy
loss to the Government which he had served so ardu-
ously. The Khan of Kalat died shortly before him, and
was succeeded by his half-brother, Khudadad Khan,
then a boy.

After Jacob's death Kalat affairs fell into disorder.
The Baluch, afraid of plundering Sind, raided the Khan's
country and made the Bolan pass impassable, save by
large caravans. So widespread and destructive were the
Murree raids that the Khan, assisted by our Resident,
overran their country in 1859. For the moment the
tribes were repressed, but not for long. Fierce disputes
broke out between the Khan and his chiefs. He was
deposed in 1863, and restored in 1864. Anarchy con-
tinued. The Khan employed a force of mercenaries,
mostly Pathans. They are described as scoundrels of all
sorts and a scourge to the country. He fought with
his chiefs with varying success, capturing some and then
pardoning them ; defied and resisted by others. The
Bolan pass remained quite unsafe, and other ways were
closed altogether. This was the general condition of
Baluchistan in 1866.

CHAPTER III.

AMONG THE TRIBESMEN.

Robert Sandeman's service on the frontier began at
the close of 1861. He was first sent north and did good
work of a minor kind in more than one district. In
1863 he did duty with one of the military expeditions
sent against tribes on the Peshawar border. He was
in charge of communications, scoured the country with
mounted levies, collected intelligence, and was happy.
He is said to have put a telegram, postponing the attack
on a fort, in his pocket, and kept it there until the place
had been carried. Several similar stories cling to his
memory : he did not like telegrams. He was then en-
gaged to be married to his cousin, Miss Allen.' He was
seen under dropping matchlock fire reading a letter from
her, laying it down to issue an order and then taking it
up again. The marriage took place in 1 864 ; and after
two more years' service in this part of the border he was
promoted to the charge of the district of Dera Ghazi
Khan, in the mid-Indus valley, where the borders of the
Panjab and of Sind meet and the Baluch tribal country
begins. He arrived there in 1866.

Along this frontier raiding by the tribesmen was still,
as it always had been, the order of the day. It was met
by stern reprisals. Before the Panjab was annexed, the
Sikh governor at Peshawar, the Italian general, Avitabile,
used to have captured raiders flung to the ground from a
high tower in the city. In 1853 an officer employed on
our frontier writes : " All outside our border, and many

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22 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

within it, were to us thieves and robbers. Our outposts
brought in heads. I saw them rolled out on the ground
by the troopers." I have mentioned Sir Charles Napier's
proclamation of outlawry. His officers were of milder
mood and withdrew it. Jacob, riding through the desert,
was met by a man carrying a sack, who rolled out two
heads of tribesmen and asked what reward should be
given to him. " Give him two dozen " was Jacob's
answer.

The head of a border district in those days was, and
still is, a " universal provider" of administration. He
controlled the land, the taxes, the magistrates, and the
police. He had a voice in the management of roads,
canals, hospitals, forests, and schools. He was re-
sponsible for the good behaviour of the tribesmen within
his border, and dealt with aggressors from beyond it.
To guard against raids he had border police and levies,
and was supported by military garrisons from which he
could call for aid on occasion. But there was on the
Panjab border a stringent rule that district officers, with-
out special sanction, were never to risk their lives beyond
it, or to dream of its extension beyond present limits.
This rule, which dates from Sir John Lawrence's day,
has often been criticised. But there were excellent
reasons for it.

Sandeman's district was a strip of the Indus valley
about 200 miles long. Away from the river it was a
dreary country, intolerably hot in summer. The Baluch
lands of the district stretched to its border, where they
came close to the hilly tribal country of the Murrees and
other tribes over whom Sandeman had no authority.
The control of these tribes rested in the Sind frontier
officer at Jacobabad, who was subordinate to the Com-
missioner in Sind, while Sandeman served under the
Lieutenant-Governor of the Panjab. These high
authorities, and the services under them, were indepen-
dent of each other but both alike subordinate to the

AMONG THE TRIBESMEN 23

Government of India. Either could make or mar the
career of any of his officers.

Sandeman first set to work to gain the respect and
confidence of the tribes under his own control. This did
not take him long. He was Scotch himself and clannish-
ness appealed to him. He liked the men and understood
them. He found their chiefs wanting in authority and
means ; and he gave them both. The chief Baluch tribe
of Dera Ghazi Khan was the Mazaris, so called from
the word Mazar which means a tiger in the Baluch
tongue.1 Their chief was then young and poor.
Sandeman restored him and other chiefs to their rightful
places as '* Tumandars ". Henceforward he had no more
faithful and valued adherent than Nawab Sir Imam
Baksh Mazari, as the chief afterwards became. Sir
Imam Baksh is now dead ; but his son, Nawab Sir
Bahram Khan, survives him and well maintains the
reputation of his loyal and distinguished father. Nawab
Jamal Khan, chief of the Lagharis, was another of the
Baluch chiefs who worked with Sandeman from the be-
ginning and proved a worthy colleague of the Mazari
leader.

In another matter Sandeman was fortunate. He
found in 1866, in Dera Ghazi Khan, a valued assistant
in Mr. Bruce, who worked with him for more than
eighteen years. In the early Quetta days Mr. Bruce was
Sandeman's right hand ; and he has published a graphic
account 2 of the work which he and Sandeman did to-
gether. Sandeman found, too, in a very lowly position,
a Hindu clerk named Hittu Ram. This extraordinary
man was little more than five feet high, spare and thin,
and perhaps the last person in the world to be thought
capable of dealing with the stalwart tribesmen. But
Sandeman saw that there was good stuff in him, tested

" The Baluch Race," Dames, Royal Asiatic Society, 1904.
a" The Forward Policy and its Results," R. I. Bruce, CLE. Long-
mans, 1900.

24 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

him, and soon made him one of his most trusted sub-
ordinates. Hittu has left a full record of Baluchistan
history, one section of which deals with Sir Robert's
work from 1866 until his death. This has been admir-
ably translated by General Sir Claud Jacob, himself an
old Baluchistan officer ; while Colonel Archer, who long
served under Sir Robert, has written the preface. As
one reads it one seems to hear the little man's wonder-
ful voice dominating, as Colonel Archer tells us it did,
the clamour of a tribal assembly, and seeming to " ride
the whirlwind and direct the storm ". On this work 1 I
shall draw largely, speaking of its author as the
" Chronicler " ; since his quaint, simple, and obviously
truthful narrative often recalls other chronicles. Indeed
the country, and its peoples and their doings, frequently
bring to mind Old Testament scenes.

Another of Sir Robert's trusted and valued Hindu
subordinates was Diwan Ganpat Rai. He, too, was most
insignificant in physique, but his authority and ability
were not far short of Hittu Ram's. Both these Hindu
officers are now dead. Both received and enjoyed well-
earned honours. Sandeman's judgment in the choice
of the men who worked for him, seldom erred ; it was
shown conspicuously in the careers of these two men.

When Sandeman had composed the many feuds and
quarrels within his own limits, set the chiefs on their
legs, and got his own house fairly in the way to order,
he turned to his border neighbours. With these he had
a long account to settle for raids, murders, and other
heinous offences; but his authority was confined to
offenders captured within his border. He began by
summoning the chiefs concerned to a conference. To
this they came ; but they flatly declined to enter into any
arrangement for keeping the peace. Sandeman therefore
dismissed them, warning one notorious raider that, if he

1 " Sandeman in Baluchistan," by the late R. B. Hittu Ram, C.I.E.,
Government of India. Calcutta, 1916.

AMONG THE TRIBESMEN 25

again crossed the border for plunder, he would not return
alive. The ruffian, one Ghulam Husain (Mr. Bruce des-
cribes him as the most ill-favoured looking scoundrel in all
the Baluch hills) laughed at the warning, and went his
way. He soon gathered a force of twelve hundred men,
and broke into the plains again. He was not unexpected ;
for Sandeman had organised his own chiefs well, and
various parties were on the watch. The fire of burning
hamlets gave the alarm to one of the military posts.
Forty troopers, with a contingent of five hundred tribes-
men, galloped to the spot. A fierce fight ensued and
the raiders were cut to pieces. The leader, with one
hundred and twenty of his followers were killed, and two
hundred were made prisoners. Sandeman, riding fast
to the scene, was met by a mounted tribesman, much
excited, who galloped up to him. Crying " Here is the
head of Ghulam Husain," he rolled it out of his mare's
nose-bag on to the road. Sandeman gave orders for its
decent interment. It was carried away afterwards by
relations and buried with the body, which they had
taken back to the hills.

The fame of this achievement spread far and wide.
Sandeman's star was regarded as lucky, and his words
of warning were proved to be words of weight. The
border respected him. He kept his prisoners and
summoned their chiefs to appear before him, if they wanted
them back. At first the chiefs feared to obey the sum-
mons. Some had gone before the Khan of Kalat and
been flung into prison. Others, shortly before, had ap-
peared before the Afghan governor at Sibi, and been
beheaded. However, they had some trust in Sandeman,
and at length they came. They then agreed to abstain
from further outrages on his border and were honourably
dismissed ; while a few horsemen from each tribe were
taken into Government service to be employed as des-
patch riders and the like. This new arrangement worked
well. Sandeman also introduced among the tribes the

26 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

system of referring their disputes to councils of chiefs
and notables, according to the usage of the country.
This system, which he had first seen at work among the
Pathan tribes, took wonderful hold among the Baluch
It is now extended all over their country, and forms one
of the most popular and useful features of the adminis-
tration. It is called the " Jirga " system, from the Persian
word for a "circle/' and is, in practice, a form of trial by
jury.

So far Sandeman had done very well. Much of his
influence with the Baluch tribes was due to his habit
of always dealing with them in the Baluch manner and
settling disputes in accordance with their own customs.
He used the Baluch chiefs whenever he could. Baluch
horsemen generally formed his escorts, and offered them-
selves eagerly for the duty. They liked his well-looking
features, and, in the lays of which they are so fond, the
praises of "Sinniman" were sung in many a border
village. But in 1868 a heavy blow fell upon him.
His wife and children were attacked by diphtheria,
which broke out in the cantonment in a very fatal form.
His wife and one child died : another, whom he was
taking to the hills, died on the journey. Grief-stricken
he returned to a desolate house, after a short journey to
England to take home the child left to him. The tribes-
men saw and felt for his sorrow, and they respected the
patience with which he bore it. He flung himself into
his work with tenfold vigour. It was then that it
became his absorbing passion. He had begun to feel
his strength and know that there was work for him to
do, and that, under Providence, he could do it.

CHAPTER IV.

THE FIRST MISSION TO KALA*T.

FROM 1869 onwards Sandeman began to range further
afield. He was now well established within his own
border. He and his officers could travel about without
fear of harm in hills that had been " Yaghistan" for
centuries; where, says the Chronicler, "even natives
could only resort at peril of their lives ". He broke the
border rule repeatedly and successfully. These trans-
gressions were condoned : it was impossible to resist
him. He was allowed to place his summer headquarters
in a hill twenty-five miles beyond his own border ; and
he named the place " Fort Munro," after his Commis-
sioner, Colonel Munro.

But the Murrees and their neighbours, while they re-
spected the district of Dera Ghazi Khan, could not be
held back from harrying Kalat lands and the Sind
border villages, where they had no longer Jacob to fear.
Sandeman did his best. He was in friendly correspond-
ence with the Sind frontier superintendent, Colonel
Phayre, who sympathised largely with Sandeman's
method of dealing directly with the tribes. But Kalat
had now gone from bad to worse. The chiefs, highland
and lowland, were again at open rupture with the young
Khan, who remained in his fort at Kalat, while his
soldiery ravaged the country and committed every sort
of excess. The chiefs clamoured for the disbandment
of his troops, and the restoration of their own ancient
rights. Their demands were flatly refused and anarchy
continued.

(27)

28 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

So serious was the situation that high authority
was called on to intervene. A conference was held in
February, 1 871, between the Lieutenant-Governor of
the Panjab and Sir William Merewether, the Commis-
sioner in Sind, who in 1847, when a young lieutenant,
had inflicted such signal chastisement on the Baluch
raiders. The conference did little. Sir William held
strongly to the view that the Khan was a supreme ruler,
and that all dealings with the tribes of his country must
be carried on through him. Sandeman, however, gained
one point. His dealings with the Murrees were recog-
nised, and, as far as they were concerned, he was placed
in subordination to the Sind frontier officer. The
Khan's troubles with his chiefs were not touched. By
the close of 1 87 1 there was a general rising, and some
of the Khan's towns were seized. His post at Dadar
was attacked and his official there burned alive ; robberies
and murders took place all over the country. Sir William
was then called upon to arbitrate between the Khan and
his rebellious Sardars. He reached the frontier for this
purpose in March, 1872. Sandeman was sent to
Jacobabad to attend this meeting, but was not allowed
to take part in it. Sir William, who regarded the rising
as due to sympathy with the cause of the chiefs indis-
creetly shown by our frontier officers, removed Colonel
Phayre from his post, and ordered Sandeman to leave
Jacobabad — it is said, within twenty-four hours. This
Sandeman did without a word : but before he left he put
on record a note on the position of the chiefs, of which
he had gained a fairly accurate knowledge. His fol-
lowers were more upset than Sandeman himself. They
had heard him described as a mere boy, and consoled
themselves with the Persian proverb that "greatness
depends on the intellect, not on the age ". Thus they
went back, much grieved. Sandeman observed that
right would win at last, and that he looked for the day
when he himself would be at Quetta and control Kalat

THE FIRST MISSION TO KALAT 29

affairs. " That," ill though he was, he would say, " is
where we ought to be, and where I will be."

Sir William's award effected little : it was based upon
his view that the Khan was supreme, and that the chiefs
had no valid grievances. The award was approved by
the Government of India (of which Lord Northbrook was
then the head), but it was not more fruitful than the con-
ference of the year before.

The Khan, indeed, did visit the Viceroy in Sind in
November, 1872. But Kalat affairs did not mend, and
in 1873 tne Khan's subsidy was stopped and our agent
withdrawn. This was a curious step to take at a time
when friendly personal influence with the Khan was
clearly needed ; and misrule continued. The Khan's
minister, who was a party to the award, fled from Kalat
and sought refuge in Sind. The Brahui chiefs fled to
the Murree hills and raided the Sind border, along with
the Murrees. Sir William Merewether was driven to
propose the despatch of a military force to Kalat, the
deposition of the Khan, and the blockade of the Murrees.
To these steps the Government were unwilling to agree.
The question was long debated. Sandeman offered to
proceed himself to the Baluch hills and ascertain by
friendly enquiry the cause of these disturbances. His
offer was at length accepted, and he was authorised to
proceed on this mission, acting under the orders of Sir
William, the Commissioner in Sind. He was to deal
with the Murrees, make them give up their plunder and
then, as he understood, go on to Kalat. The decision to
send him was not easily taken. Sandeman was a young
officer, quite unknown ; while the Commissioner, with
the high authority of his long and distinguished record,
was much opposed to him. However, Lord Northbrook's
Government decided that they would try Sandeman, and
he was sent.

Before Sandeman started for Kalat he set to work to
settle with the Murrees in his own special way. The

30 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

tribe, always dangerous, were then unusually restless and
disturbed. They knew of his errand to them, and re-
sented it. But he knew them, too, and he knew himself.
With no military escort he rode into their hills, insisted
on the return of the stolen cattle, and remained as a
hostage until messengers came back to report that this
had been done. He then went back, on good terms with
the Murree chief, who sent his brother with the mission.

The mission started in November, 1875. It had a
small British escort of one hundred and twenty men ; and
a numerous tribal following went with it. Chief after
chief joined Sandeman. From his own district came the
Mazari chief, the Laghari, and many more: the Baluch
tribes outside were not behind-hand. In all, the train,
as recorded by the Chronicler, comprised eleven chiefs
of rank, with 1 106 horsemen and 300 footmen. The
Chronicler was himself in the mission, as was his Hindu
colleague. And with it too went Sandeman's major-domo,
"Mr. Bux," whose infinite resource and stately presence
have been admired by all Sir Robert's many guests, and
by those too who have stayed at the Residency after Sir
Robert's time. " Mr. Bux," now a titled native gentle-
man, still lives in retirement at Quetta, where any one
bearing the name of Sandeman is very dear to him.

The mission did well. It passed through the Murree
country. Among the halting-places was one known as
"the place of vast mutton feasts," where returning
raiders were in the habit of feasting on their way back
from a foray. A halt was made at Sibi, then in Afghan
hands, where the Murrees were a terror to the villages
outside the town. Then the Bolan was entered at
Dadar, which the Chronicler calls a small town and very
dirty. Here the shopkeepers used to carry their goods
every evening for safety to the house of a holy man, and
bring them back the next morning. The Khan had
troops at this place and his representative was a negro
slave. The troops saluted the mission, and supplies were

THE FIRST MISSION TO KALAT 31

provided. Then the mission wound its way by three
long marches through this grim defile, suffering much
from lack of forage. Reaching the head of the pass they
entered the " plain of destitution," and then passed on
to Sar-i-ab, the " head of the water," with its springs.
This village was empty, as the tribesmen had gone down
the pass as usual, to winter in the plains below. The
mission was now in the Quetta valley, and entered
Quetta, then known as Shal, on the next day.

But while the business of the mission was progressing
thus hopefully, affairs had taken an ill turn behind
Sandeman's back. The Commissioner, far away at
Karachi, was still in touch with Kalat, and his informa-
tion from that quarter caused him to send express
despatches, ordering Sandeman not to proceed beyond
the Murree country, not to enter the Bolan, and to return
at once. He had, in fact, been told that a revolution in
Kalat was imminent. Sandeman was now in a most
difficult position. The success of the mission seemed
assured ; he was in no alarm, and had no occasion to ask
for help. On the other hand, disregard of these specific
orders might bring danger to the mission and ruin to
himself. But his natural tenacity and shrewdness did
not fail him. He decided to refer the whole matter to
the Government of India, and then proceeded on his way.
Kalat was reached on December 30, when he saw for the
first time the great palace-fort, or " Miri," on the hill,
and the clustered dwellings round it that form the town.

The Khan received the mission in state; but when
Sandeman paid his first visit to His Highness on De-
cember 31, one of the notables asked the significant
question : " Has the post from Sind reached the mission ? "
Kalat, then, was well aware of the purport of the Sind
despatches. The Khan held a formal Durbar on Janu-
ary 1, when he received Sandeman and the chiefs who
had joined the mission. These now included various
Brahui chiefs, among them the premier chieftain of the

32 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

Highlanders. The Khan met Sandeman at the door and
seated him on his right, placing his own eldest son on
his left. The premier chief he stood up to greet ; to the
Baluch chiefs he half rose ; to the others he merely gave
greeting without rising. All the chiefs sat on the carpet,
as was, and is, the Baluch way. Then conversation was
opened on the matters in dispute, and resumed on the
next and following days. In the course of the discussion
the Khan observed that he had heard that Captain
Sandeman was without authority.

The discussions were friendly. The Khan seemed
willing to come to an understanding with the chiefs, if
they would undertake to be loyal to him. He was warm
in his expressions of loyalty to the Government of India
and Her Majesty the Queen, saying that he was pre-
pared to appear at any place to which they might
summon him, even in London. The Murrees and other
tribes spoke of amendment. At this stage, on January
4, 1876, news arrived of an affray between the Khan's
troops and certain Brahui villagers, ten of whom were
killed. Sandeman gave orders for striking camp and re-
turning at once. This reached the Khan's ears, for he
came on that same evening to the mission camp. He
was, however, in an intractable mood, and treated the
affray with levity. "It is impossible," he said, "to rule
the country without the sword. If Captain Sandeman
is so annoyed at this insignificant matter, what will he be
if I kill an ill-behaved chief to-morrow ? " The mission
marched for the plains on the next morning, but not by
the route by which they had come. On January 13 the
Khan wrote reporting a fight between his men and one
of the leading lowland chiefs, who was killed. He said
also that he was releasing, at Captain Sandeman's
instance, the villagers whom his troops had captured in
the recent affray. Thus he showed some sort of feeling
of responsibility. With this the work of the first mission
ended. It was disappointing : nothing definite had been

THE FIRST MISSION TO KALAT 33

achieved. Sandeman, however, had gained much know-
ledge, and made some impression upon the Khan ; nor
was he without hope for the future, although he saw
that he "had a hard nut to crack in His Highness the
Khan".

When he reached the plains good news awaited him.
The Commissioner's action in recalling him had been
considered by the Government, and held to be mistaken.
The supreme authorities decided that Sandeman must be
supported. As his views and the Commissioner's could
not be reconciled, they relieved the latter of all further
responsibility for Kalat affairs.

Thus ended a long controversy. The relief to Sande-
man was immense. Writing to his father he says : " I
have had a hard battle, but the conquest is complete.
Thank God for His goodness to the people and to me."
That was his first thought. It was clearly recognised,
moreover, that the success of his mission had been
affected injuriously by the orders which sought to recall
him, when his work was hardly begun.

CHAPTER V.

KALA*T AGAIN.

KalAt affairs did not improve after the first mission.
The chiefs, enraged at the killing of one of their number,
took to reprisals. The tribesmen were up and the Bolan
was closed. Caravans could not pass through, and the
traders clamoured for redress. The Government of
India could not remain inactive. They resolved to try
Sandeman again, and to give him this time a better
chance. He was now sent on a formal mission, bearing
a letter from the Viceroy to the Khan, in which Lord
Northbrook said that he was sending Major Sandeman
(as he had now become), in whom he had full confidence,
to confer with His Highness on the affairs of Kalat, and
effect a settlement, if possible, of all disputes. The
strength of the escort by which the mission was accom-
panied has sometimes been criticised to Sandeman's dis-
advantage : but it was clearly appropriate to the occasion
and was not excessive. The Baluch following was much
reduced. The faithful Mazari chief, with his colleague,
the Laghari, went with the mission ; the Chronicler was
in due attendance. The mission started on April 4,
1876, and six marches brought them to the mouth of the
Bolan. The summer heat had now set in. Cholera
broke out, and the mission had to make a long halt in
the pass, until the disease was stayed. A large caravan,
which had followed in its wake, was also attacked and
had to be moved up the pass as quickly as possible. By
April 27 the mission had reached Mastung, in the up-

(34)

KALAT AGAIN 35

lands, and left the scorching pass behind. By that time
Sandeman was in correspondence with the Khan, and
numerous chiefs had joined him. There was much
fencing by His Highness with the invitation to meet the
mission. There were rumours of disturbances, and
threats and counter-threats of action by the Khan's
troops and the chiefs. Sandeman remained calm and
unperturbed. The news of his father's death reached
him at this time. He felt it deeply, but bore the blow
with his customary patience and resignation. At last
the Khan decided to accept the invitation ; and he
arrived at Mastung on May 31.

Meantime Sandeman had other anxieties. Lord
Northbrook, who had much regard for him, had resigned
the Viceroyalty ; and Lord Lytton was appointed by Mr.
Disraeli's Government to succeed him. The position on
the Indian frontier had become a matter of grave con-
cern to the British Government. Khiva had been con-
quered by Russia in 1873, an<^ m tne two following years
Russian occupation had been pushed much further
towards India. Russian intercourse and influence with
the Afghan Amir, Sher Ali, had rapidly grown. It was
rightly surmised in India that a change of policy in our
Afghan and other frontier relations would be initiated by
the new Viceroy ; but how that change might affect his
mission Sandeman could not forecast. Lord Lytton had,
in fact, projected, with the authority of the Cabinet, the
despatch of a friendly mission to Kabul, to be combined
with one to Kalat and reach Kabul by Quetta and
Kandahar ; * and he had asked Lord Northbrook there-
fore to suspend Sandeman's mission. To this Lord
Northbrook was unable to agree. In the event Sandeman
had started only a few days before Lord Lytton 's arrival
in India, feeling that his mission might be superseded or
modified at any moment. He received no communica-

1 " Lord Lytton's Indian Administration," Lady Betty Balfour. Long-
mans, 1S92.

36 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

tion from the Viceroy until June, and that was nothing
more than a very guarded message of congratulation on
his progress. Thus he was kept in a state of suspense
which he felt acutely. Still he set himself steadily to
the work in hand.

The Khan rode into Mastung on May 31. Sandeman
with a troop of cavalry rode out to meet him. He and
the Khan dismounted, shook hands, and rode in together
in friendly talk. This ceremony is one to which great
importance is attached ; it is called the " Peshwai," or
advance meeting. The Khan brought with him an
escort of three hundred horse and foot, and many villagers
were gathered in to swell the grandeur of his camp in the
Mastung "Miri". In the afternoon Sandeman visited
him there, performing the ceremony of " Mizaj-pursi," or
"asking after health". This, too, is a grave ceremony
that must never be omitted. On June 1 a formal Durbar
was held in the mission camp, where it was noticed that
the Khan looked ill at ease and gloomy. Sandeman
said a few general words only, on the need for union and
consultation, and the uselessness of seeking peace by
fighting.

On the next day Sandeman, with his two Baluch
chiefs, visited the Khan, who asked, point-blank, if the
Government would help him with an army to punish the
Brahuis. Sandeman replied, point-blank and emphati-
cally, that they would not. This frank exchange alto-
gether cleared the air ; for the Khan at once agreed that
he would leave his affairs in the hands of Major Sandeman,
and abide by his decision. A Commission was then
appointed. The Khan named two representatives ; and
Sandeman nominated the two Baluch chiefs as arbitrators
on the part of the Brahui chiefs. Two better mediators
could not have been found ; since the Baluch were in-
dependent of the Khan and were not connected with the
Brahuis. Statements of grievances by both parties were
drawn up, and good progress was made towards agree-

KALAT AGAIN 37

ment. The lowland chiefs were now on their way up.
They did not get through, however, without a skirmish
with the Khan's troops, in which men were killed on
both sides.

By June 7 the agreement regarding the disputes be-
tween the Khan and the chiefs was ready. The Khan
had assented to it and affixed his seal. The highland
chiefs were summoned to the mission : each came in with
a following of two hundred men. The premier chief, the
Raisani, was taken by Sandeman to see the Khan on the
next day. The Khan's manner was off-hand : he did not
give the chief the customary greeting. Some of the
chiefs followers kissed the Khan's hand : some did not.
There was silence, when Sandeman, rising, took the
chief's hand and placed it in the Khan's, saying, "The
Khan is the master : you are his chief. He should be
favourable to you." The Khan replied that, if God
willed, all would be well.

On June 10 and 11 all the highland chiefs attended
the Khan's Durbar. They were well received. The
Khan observed that they now attended his Durbar
according to the old custom, and how beautiful and
pleasant a thing it was. The chiefs replied that they
considered the day very fortunate, in that they held their
seats in the Durbar of their old ruler.

On June 12 a characteristic incident occurred. The
mission post-bags were attacked in the Bolan. The
carriers, having dismounted to drink, were fired on and
fled to a hill. The horses, which ran away with the bags,
were carried off. They were recovered later. On June
16 the premier highland chief went to see the Khan
alone. He touched the Khdn's feet, and laid his sword
before him saying, " I offer my head also ". The Khan
was much moved. He embraced him, and girt him with
the sword with his own hands, saying, " You are my old
Sardar and I consider you my arm. Use this sword
against my enemies. I will favour you to the utmost of

38 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

my power." The news of this, soon noised abroad,
caused general cheerfulness. The Khan ordered his
troops to withdraw to Kalat.

The lowland chiefs were now drawing near, while
messengers came in from the Pathan tribes beyond
Quetta and from the Zhob valley. They were perturbed
at the arrival of British officers and troops, and anxious to
find out what it all meant. They had grievances against
the Murrees for raids, and said that they would fall upon
and annihilate them. On June 29 measures were ar-
ranged for the protection of the Bolan pass. The Khan
agreed to keep it secure, and for this purpose to act in
consultation with Major Sandeman, and to maintain
communications with his subjects. He and Sandeman
were now on very friendly terms. " The burden," His
Highness said, " must now be borne half by myself and
half by Major Sandeman." On July 5, the lowlanders
arrived. They were no small body : the chiefs and their
following numbered 2000 men. They had been delayed,
they said, by the heat of the road and the loss of eighty
camels and horses. Otherwise they would have travelled
as fast as a bird. The settlement already agreed to by
the highlanders was announced to them. Councils were
convened to hear and decide minor disputes. Concilia-
tion made rapid strides in all directions. Prisoners and
their families were released, as well as female slaves who
had been sent to the Khan's harem. On July 13, when
agreement had been reached on all matters, a final
Durbar was held.

This was a great and imposing function. On chairs in
the centre sat the Khan and Sandeman. On the right
sat the Khan's relations and officials: on the left the
chiefs in due order. The mission escort furnished one
guard of honour. The Khan's troops furnished another,
with a band. The document containing the agreed terms
of the settlement was brought in, with the Koran, and
placed on a chair. All Mohammedans rose as their sacred

KALAT AGAIN 39

book was brought in. The document was read aloud.
The seals attached to it were shown to, and recognised
by, the parties. All affirmed the binding nature of the
agreement in the most solemn manner. Then a salute
was fired : gifts of embroidered turbans, brocade and
muslin, horses and silver-mounted saddles, were bestowed :
and the Durbar ended. The Mastung Settlement, which
is the foundation of all order in the Kalat country, thus
came about, and it has remained in force ever since.
The parties then dispersed, the Khan going back to
Kaldt. Sandeman soon followed, after sending back part
of his escort, and he remained there until December.

It was in these two months, June and July, 1876, that
the pacification of Baluchistan was accomplished. To
Sandeman it was a time of strenuous and constant effort.
The pleasant Mastung valley in the upland mountains
was strangely transfigured. One can picture the group
of mission tents, with the flag flying on the flag-staff
before them ; the long lines of the escort ; the scattered
camps of the chiefs with their crowds of retainers and
horses ; the Khan in the fort, with his escort and follow-
ing pitched round its walls. The camp was full of stir
and animation. Messengers were coming in hourly with
news from all quarters, sometimes good, sometimes
alarming. Rumour was busy : wild men brought in wild
stories and talked them over with excited groups of men
as wild as themselves. Over all this stir and hum
Sandeman was the one controlling influence. Anxious,
but unperturbed, he steadily pursued his one aim ot con-
ciliation, overcoming difficulty after difficulty, composing
quarrel after quarrel. The chiefs now knew and trusted
him, and he had secured also the Khan's goodwill.
He was a commanding figure, with heavy frame, strong
jaw, and small light eyes which, when he was — as often
— deep in thought, looked rather through than at the
person or thing before him. At Mastung in this wild
mixed concourse he was at his best. Among the curious

4o SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

features of his unequalled hold on the tribes was his
ignorance of their language. He could speak Hindu-
stani fluently, but incorrectly : few beside the chiefs could
understand him. Yet they rarely failed to gather his
meaning, and, still more rarely, did they disregard it.
He was no lawyer: he disliked law. But the most
eminent lawyer could not have drawn up a better settle-
ment.

Sandeman was able in September to report to the
Viceroy the settlement which he had effected. Lord
Lytton, says the Chronicler, was "not quite convinced
of the improved state of the country ". The Chronicler,
as usual, puts matters in a nut-shell. The settlement,
in view of the past and recent history, must have
appeared almost incredible. Lord Lytton's Military
Secretary, Colonel Colley (who afterwards fell on Majuba
Hill), was sent to Kalat. He bore letters from the
Viceroy to the Khan and to Major Sandeman. These
dealt with the preparation of a fresh treaty with the
Khan, which the Viceroy proposed to ratify at Jacobabad,
where he invited His Highness to meet him. Lord
Lytton also invited His Highness to take part in the
coming great assembly at Delhi, when Her Majesty
Queen Victoria was to assume the title of " Empress of
India ". The Khan received Colonel Colley in Durbar,
pressed the Viceroy's letter to his forehead, accepted its
invitations, and prepared for the coming meeting.
Colonel Colley' s report on Kalat affairs was favourable,
and Robert Sandeman's official reputation was made.

In the interval at Kalat, Sandeman and the Khan met
frequently. Khudadad Khan had entered young on his
stormy public life. Young advisers seem to have had
the same attraction for him as they had for King Reho-
boam ; and but for Sandeman he could hardly have kept
his kingdom. He reminds one constantly of Mr.
Kipling's words: —

Half devil and half child.

kalAt AGAIN 41

At this moment, however, the Khan and the envoy de-
bated matters of State policy with mutual goodwill. The
Khan, in dealing with his chiefs and subjects, favoured
a doggerel Hindustani couplet, which may be para-
phrased : —

First beat them ;
Then treat them.

Sandeman suggested a better rhyme : —

When reasoning fails,
Then twist their tails.

This has been labelled an old proverb ; but it seems pos-
sible that it was an original effort of the Sandemanian
muse. If so it stands alone. The two couplets were
gravely discussed in Durbar, and show what manner of
people Sandeman had to deal with.

From Kalat to Jacobabad and Delhi the road was now
easy. The Khan with a retinue of 3000 followers moved
down to the plains. The chiefs passed down the Bolan.
A portion of the British escort marched to Quetta, where
we had by treaty the right to place troops. Early in
December Lord Lytton reached Jacobabad. He re-
ceived the Khan in a great Durbar, and the new treaty
was signed. Lord Lytton describes the assembly as
most picturesque and uncouth. "The little Khan," he
says, "was very nervous or alarmed and trembled
violently. He has the furtive face and restless eye of a
little hunted wild beast which has long lived in danger of
its life. But his manners were good, and his face, as
soon as it loses its expression of alarm and mistrust, not
unpleasing." Poor Khudadad ! He was deposed not
long after the death of Sandeman — his elder brother, as
he used to call him. A cruel series of murders, which
he directed, was the occasion of his fall. He lived many
years in retirement, in comfort and ease. His manners
were pleasing to the last ; the restless eye he never lost,
but he caused no difficulties and passed a peaceful old
age, a fatalist and a philosopher.

42 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

At the Delhi assembly the Khan and his wild Sardars
were an object of great interest. The chiefs and re-
tainers, with their long ringlets, were the observed of all
observers. The KMn was much delighted with all that
he saw, especially with the banners given to the feudatory
princes of India ; for one of which he pleaded, although
he was no feudatory but an ally. Sandeman received
Lord Lytton's cordial congratulations. The C.S.I, was
bestowed on him, and he was now appointed as the
representative of our Government at Kalat, with head-
quarters at Quetta and a suitable staff. He was anxious
for a holiday after his long and strenuous labours. But
leave could not be granted. Trouble was coming on the
border.

Of the decorations then bestowed a good share fell to
those who had worked for Sandeman. He never forgot
his men. The two Baluch chiefs received honours : the
Chronicler was not overlooked. Of his leader he writes :
" No sooner had the boat of his mission reached the shore
of success than the first thing he did was to reward those
who had prominently assisted him ".

CHAPTER VI.

QUETTA IN THE AFGHAN WAR.

So, in the spring of 1877, Sandeman went to Quetta,
where he had long said that he meant to be. He was
now clothed with authority, and was, in fact, supreme in
Baluchistan. He was cheered by letters from Lord
Northbrook, and by the cordial support given to him by
Lord Lytton. On his way he was badly thrown from
his horse and had to be carried in on a litter. At Quetta
he purchased land for a Residency and for lines for the
troops. During the building of the Residency one of
the engineers, Lieutenant Hewson, was murdered by
fanatical Pathans who had become " ghazi " ; that is, had
vowed at all cost to take the life of an unbeliever. The
men came behind the officers, with knives hidden in
their cloaks. Hewson was stabbed through the back,
and his companion wounded. The murderers did not
escape. Captain Scott, who was not far away on parade,
heard the shouting and ran to the spot, taking a rifle and
bayonet from his orderly. He bayoneted two of them
and closed with the third, who was also cut down.
Captain Scott's conspicuous gallantry was rewarded with
the Victoria Cross. There were several of these murders
in the early Quetta days. The valley was water-logged
and unhealthy; and the town long had an ill name,
preserved in Mr. Kipling's "Jack Barrett went to
Quetta » :—

I shouldn't like to be the man,
Who sent Jack Barrett there.

(43)

44 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

At that time the Khan's representative occupied the old
fort, with a few troops ; and within its enclosure were
the dwellings of Hindu traders and artisans, squalid and
poverty-stricken. The Bolan traffic, by which these men
had lived, had ceased. They could not cultivate, as the
Khan's revenue charges were enormous, and their har-
vests were raided. Cattle were only safe close to the
fort. The Khan's official could not go far outside it.
The Brahuis defied him : so strong had been the feeling
between them and the Khan that the latter had said
openly : " Should a Brahui chance to find his way to
Heaven, I will apply to God either to allot me a separate
room or permit me to go and live in hell ". The Pathan
tribes were equally lawless and defiant. Pishm was in
Afghan hands and the roads were closed. "When
Major Sandeman first came to Quetta it was," says the
Chronicler, "a fearful time. Thieves and robbers in-
fested it in those days. It was seldom that a night
passed over our heads without the report of firearms,
and often one would get out of bed through fear."

Sandeman dealt successfully with these evil surround-
ings. From the Khan he leased the Quetta valley on a
favourable rent, which was nearly double the amount of
its yearly value to him. He took over the fort, removed
the traders to a site outside, and housed the escort there.
The Residency was built on another site. It was a
domed mud house, comfortable, but very different from
the luxurious residence of his successors. He then
turned to the Bolan pass and completed the arrange-
ments for protecting and keeping it open. This done,
after a visit to Kalat and the lowland chiefs' country, he
was able to snatch a brief visit to England. He was
back in July, 1878.

By this time war with Afghanistan was imminent. A
"jehad," or holy war against the unbeliever, had been
proclaimed at Kandahar. The Pathan tribes round
Quetta were much excited, as were the Khan's soldiery

QUETTA IN THE AFGHAN WAR 45

and some of the Baluch chiefs. Sandeman had no light
task in keeping the country quiet and preserving loyalty
and goodwill. He also gathered intelligence from south
Afghanistan and Kandahar, and stored advance sup-
plies of grain and fodder. All these things, says the
Chronicler, he did exceedingly well.

In September, 1878, the storm broke, and our mission
to the Amir of Afghanistan was refused passage through
the Khyber pass. The Quetta garrison was at once
strengthened by a division under General Biddulph. On
November 2 1 war was declared. Biddulph's force moved
forward and occupied Pishin without resistance. Sande-
man went with it. Sibi, below, was also occupied. In
both places the inhabitants were quite friendly. A
further force, seven thousand strong, moved up the Bolan
under General Stewart, while a reserve force was placed
at Sukkur on the Indus. Meantime Sandeman, with the
aid of the Pathan tribes, crossed the mountains between
Pishin and Kandahar, and found the pass, the Khojak,
unoccupied. The Khan of Kalat proved a loyal and
helpful ally. Stewart crossed the Afghan border on
January 1 , 1 879. Sandeman was most anxious to go with
him ; for he thought that, acting with the chiefs, he could
effect a settlement at Kandahar, as he had done at Mas-
tung. But he was considered indispensable at Quetta.
Stewart reached Kandahar on January 9, 1879, without
righting. Meantime on the Kabul side events were hap-
pening in quick succession. General Roberts, advancing
on Kabul through the Kurram valley, gained a brilliant
victory at the Peiwar Kotal on December 1, 1878. The
Amir, Sher Ali, fled from Kabul ; and in February, 1879,
he died. His son, Yakub Khan, succeeded him and sued
for peace.

So far everything had been easy, far too easy. The
great value of Quetta and Sandeman's pacification had
been clearly shown. Stewart was left in Kandahar with
a garrison of six thousand men. Biddulph's force was sent

46 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

back to India, not by the Bolin pass, but by a much
shorter road which led to Sandeman's old district of Dera
Ghdzi. On this road Sandeman set a high value. It
was an old trade route between India and Kandahar, and
passed through Pathan tribal country, adjacent to the
Zhob valley, of which a certain Shah Jahan, a tribal
chieftain, was called Padshah, or King.

Amir Abdur Rahman l had passed down this valley
in 1869, with his uncle, when both were fugitives after
their defeat by Amir Sher AH. They were in evil case,
hard put to it to find food enough to keep them alive.
The " King of Zhob w was an old man, wearing an old
patched coat of sheepskin and a filthy turban. His mare,
all skin and bone, had bells tied round her knees, and
bells hung from her cloth bridle. This dreadful appari-
tion scared the uncle's horse and he cried to his nephew
for help. This Abdur Rahman refused ; he could not, he
said, come between two Kings. Nor would he help until
his uncle promised to give him one of his two swords.
Then he quieted the animals. The " King" was a sub-
ject of much mirth to Abdur Rahman: "King of the
Devils " he calls him, and curses him for leading them
the wrong way among thieves.

Shah Jahan was still to the fore in 1879. He was a
holy man and a reputed worker of miracles. He gathered
together a large body of tribesmen and attacked Sande-
man, who was with the advance party of Biddulph's
force. The tribesmen were defeated in a sharp fight and
sued for peace. At one place the advance was delayed
by a single tribesman, who, behind a stone barricade,
defied the whole force. He was entangled in shawls
thrown over him by friendlies, and made prisoner. On
the next day the hillmen collected in another defile and
refused to give way. The prisoner broke loose ; and
shouting to them, " Who are you to dare to fight when I
have surrendered ! " he dispersed them.

1 " Life of Abdur Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan." Murray, 1900.

QUETTA IN THE AFGHAN WAR 47

On May 26, 1879, the peace treaty of Gandamak
between ourselves and Amir Yakub Khan was signed.
This ceded to us Pishfn, Sibi, and other Afghan places
in Baluchistan. An uncle of the Amir was sent to
Kandahar as Governor, and our troops were ordered to
withdraw. Sandeman was busy taking over the ceded
districts, when an outbreak of cholera swept over Quetta.
Mrs. Bruce, the only lady there during the first three years
of our occupation, was attacked. Sandeman at once
took her children into the Residency, where several of his
servants died of the disease ; but Mrs. Bruce herself
recovered after a very dangerous illness. In July, 1879,
appeared the Honours Gazette for services rendered in
the war. Sandeman became a K. C.S.I. "No decora-
tion," says Dr. Thornton, his biographer, " was ever better
earned."

The work and strain had told heavily on Sir Robert,
who suffered from insomnia and greatly needed rest.
But it was no time for rest. The boundary with Kan-
dahar had to be fixed that summer. On September 5,
when the tents had been struck in Kandahar, and the
division had started on its march back to Quetta, came
the grave news of the massacre at Kabul of our envoy,
Sir Louis Cavagnari, and his entire staff and escort.

Kandahar was at once occupied again. Sandeman
left for the Afghan border to reassure the tribes, and help
to keep open communications. On the Peshawar side
General Roberts reached Kabul, after severe fighting, on
October 12. The Amir Yakub Khan abdicated and was
sent to India. In December there was heavy fighting
round Kabul, and a general rising : but Roberts held his
ground. At Kandahar things were quiet. Below Quetta
the railway was pushed on as fast as possible from
Sukkur to the foot of the Bolan. It was open for traffic
up to Sibi by January, 1880. One of the stations in the
Sind desert is still called "Jhutput," which means
" Hurry". The engineers had to find a name for it and

48 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

could think of none better. It was arranged that the line
should be taken on through the mountains, not by the
Bolan but by the Harnai valley. This lies in Murree and
Pathan tribal country. Great numbers of labourers were
employed, and it was not easy to protect them. The
Pathans ambushed and shot down Captain Showers, of
the Baluch guides, and defied Sandeman. He at once
attacked them with a small escort, drove them from the
hills and blew up their towers. He was conspicuous in
the fight in white clothes : and his sun-hat was pierced
by a bullet, as he stooped down to help his orderly who
had fallen wounded. In the spring of 1880, an indepen-
dent ruler of Kandahar was recognised. Stewart's force
was relieved by a division under General Primrose, and
marched to Kabul ; where it arrived at the end of April.
On the way Stewart had fought and won two fierce battles
before Ghazni.

In England a general election took place at this time
(March, 1880), and on April 28, Lord Beaconsfield's
Government was replaced by Mr. Gladstone's. As the
Afghan War had been denounced by the new Prime
Minister, Lord Lytton resigned the Viceroyalty; and
his successor, the Marquis of Ripon, reached India on
June 8. The policy of cutting off Kandahar from
Afghanistan was abandoned. Abdur Rahman, a member
of the ruling house, who now had returned to his country
after twelve years of exile in Russian Turkestan, was re-
garded with favour as a likely successor to the vacant
throne of Afghanistan.

At the same time rumour had long been busy regard-
ing the plans and movements of Ayub Khan, Yakub's
younger brother, who had fled to Herat on his father's
death. No importance was attached to these stories at
Kandahar ; but Sandeman, at Quetta, is said to have
warned the Government that there was danger from
Ayub. The warning, if given, was not heeded, and in
June it was known that Ayub was marching on Kanda-

QUETTA IN THE AFGHAN WAR 49

har in force. The Kandahar Governor sent troops to
drive him back. They were mistrusted, and a British
brigade was sent with them. On July 13 they mutinied,
and moved off to join the enemy. The British brigade
attacked and dispersed them, and then marched to
Maiwand to intercept Ayub. It was attacked on July 27,
by Ayub's force, which was largely swollen by fanatics
and tribesmen. The brigade gave way, and the battle
of Maiwand ended in a disastrous defeat in which we lost,
in killed and missing, over 1200 officers and men.
The news reached Quetta on the morning of July 28.
By August 8, Ayub had invested Kandahar.

At this crisis Sandeman's resource and counsel were
most helpful. General Phayre, his old comrade of
Jacobabad days, was now commanding in Quetta. Jointly
they pressed for an immediate concentration on Pishin of
all troops that could be spared. This involved the aban-
donment of the great railway works and the posts on the
new road to India. It was done at once, and Phayre's
column started to relieve Kandahar. On August 9,
Sir Frederick Roberts also started for Kandahar from
Kabul, on the long and difficult march of 313 miles
which is famous in our history. He reached Kandahar
on August 31, and on the following day completely routed
Ayub. Abdur Rahman had been recognised already as
Amir of Afghanistan. The war was now over.

While these events were happening, Sandeman was
tireless in his activities. He defeated Ayub's attempts
to intrigue with Kalat, and both the Khan and the chiefs
remained thoroughly loyal. The heavy demand for
transport and supplies to serve our armies at Kandahar
was largely borne by Baluchistan. Sandeman was the
inspiring genius. Twenty thousand camels were col-
lected, hired, and worked in relays over the long road
from rail-head to Kandahar. No such transport had
been got together and paid for in the country before.
Sandeman was everywhere conspicuous, encouraging,

4

50 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

threatening, persuading, and settling with the chiefs
and camel owners. His work was on the simple lines
of prompt, just payment ; and he carried it through.
The tribesmen along the railway alignment gave trouble.
The Murrees could not keep their hands from a weakly
guarded treasure convoy, which they fiercely attacked
and plundered. The Pathan tribesmen, too, broke out.
Shah Jahan of Zhob, with a large gathering, attacked
one of our posts, but he was beaten off. The Murrees
were severely punished when Roberts' force returned to
India through Quetta. The railway alignment was
again guarded, and the military road to the plains once
more taken in hand.

The Afghan frontier was now quiet, and a breathing
time began. Baluchistan had come well through the
long crisis. The Chronicler observes that, " had not
Sir Robert Sandeman already spread the influence of
the British power, the people would have deserted the
country on seeing such a large number of troops pass
through it ; and the troops would have been put to great
inconvenience and trouble ". He is right. In January,
1 88 1, the Home Government decided to abandon Kan-
dahar ; and the troops were withdrawn in April. On
this question of large policy Sandeman's opinion was
clear. "The new Amir of Afghanistan, whoever he
may be," he wrote, " can never be our friend as long as
the most valuable part of the Afghan kingdom is in
our possession." In the spring of 1881, he left for
England on his first long holiday since he landed in
India twenty-five years before. The Khan of Kalat's
farewell letter to him ends : "I pray you to think of the
sincere friend who is ever with you, like a second kernel
in one almond ".

CHAPTER VII.

THE FURTHER SETTLEMENT OF BALUCHISTAN.

Sir Robert returned to India at the close of 1882.
He had married again while on furlough, and the union
was a most happy one. Lady Sandeman came out
with him to see, in a wild, strange country, a wonderful
welcome given to her husband. Horsemen dashed
ahead and signalled his coming as he marched through
the Bolan : great and small rejoiced as one man. He
had not been idle in England. In the settlement with
Afghanistan the proposal to cede Pishin and Sibi had
been entertained favourably by the British Government.
Sandeman would have none of it. He knew how
slender was the Afghan claim to these places, and their
importance to Baluchistan, of which they formed an in-
tegral part He urged his views strongly in every way
open to him. Sir Charles Dilke (who was then at the
Foreign Office) is believed to have adopted them and
pressed them on the Cabinet. In the end the districts
were retained.

Sandeman was now free to resume the task of estab-
lishing order throughout Baluchistan. There still re-
mained great areas where peace was unknown, life cheap,
the land untilled, and the people backward and impover-
ished. Hitherto the strain of the war had kept him
busy at Quetta — now a great place of arms — and in
northern Baluchistan, where the work which he had done
was bearing fruit. In the winter of 1883, therefore, he
went south to visit the lowland country, where many

(so

52 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

disputes were composed. He then passed on to Kharan,
the desert stronghold of a chief whose name was very-
famous on the Persian border. Azad Khan of Kharan
— the chief in question — was then ninety-seven years
old. Bowed with age, he could still, once assisted into
the saddle, sit his horse and ride with the endurance of
a much younger man. He could look back on a long
career of border forays and strife. He claimed Persian
rather than Baluch descent : though his house and that
of the Khan of Kalat were connected by marriage. He
had fought against us in 1839, and again in 1856. He
had joined the Brahui chiefs in their rebellion in 1 871 ;
and in 1876 he had raided the Persian border. He was
now at feud with the Khan of Kalat and the lowland
chiefs on the Mekran side, one of whom his son had
lately attacked and slain. He was no party to the
Mastung settlement. However, he trusted Sir Robert,
and knew, as all the country knew, what had been done
in northern Baluchistan. Hence the aged chief received
the British Resident and his cortege with every mark of
favour, welcoming the prospect of peace at last. His
disputes and feuds were enquired into and settled, and
Kharan joined the Baluch confederacy. No British
official had visited this region before, and the " Kharan
conciliation " was one of the most striking of Sandeman's
minor triumphs. Azad Khan died in 1886 in his 101st
year. His son, Sir Nauroz Khan, who succeeded him,
died not long ago. There were no further troubles in
Kharan in Sandeman's time. From there he passed on
into Mekran, composing quarrels as he marched along,
much grieved by the misery which he found there. u A
life," says the Chronicler, " would there be sacrificed for
a piece of cloth worth a few pence." Having reached
the coast, Sandeman took ship for Karachi, and returned
to Quetta early in 1 884.

In the spring he marched east to the other end of his
vast charge. Shah Jahan of Zhob could not look on

FURTHER SETTLEMENT OF BALUCHISTAN 53

idly while a new road, with military posts, was being
built on the outskirts of his country. Many murderous
attacks were made on our people. A camp of labourers
was badly cut up, and seven men killed. In these cir-
cumstances a force was sent into the Zhob country in the
autumn, which destroyed Shah Jahan's fort, dispersed his
following and reduced the tribes to submission.

Sandeman had also the task of transporting across the
desert, as far as the Helmund river, the Indian section
of the British Boundary Commission, which was to de-
limit the Russo-Afghan border in conjunction with the
Russian Commission. This was a matter of considerable
difficulty. The party, which consisted of 1500 men
and as many animals, had to be taken over 225 miles of
desert, where a road had to be marked out with plough-
shares, flares, and posts.1 The number of wells that had
to be dug was 800 ; and the party was formed into
separate contingents which left at intervals of a day,
so that the wells might have time to fill up again after
they had been drained of water. These arrangements
were carried out successfully, and the party crossed the
desert without a hitch. In 1885, after what is called the
Panjdeh incident, when the Russian forces on the Afghan
border attacked and routed the Afghans, war with Russia
seemed imminent ; and Sandeman was again called upon
to provide transport for a large force at Quetta. An-
other great corps of camels was collected and worked on
his simple and most efficient method. The crisis passed,
however, and war was avoided.

In 1886 the special calls on Sir Robert were less ex-
acting. He could apply himself to making roads, re-
placing military posts by tribal levies, starting hospitals,
and generally improving the tracts which he administered.
The work on the railway, which had been discontinued
after the Afghan War of 1878-80, was resumed in 1884,

1 Sir Hugh Barnes, " Journal, Central Asian Society," Vol. VI., p. 79,

54 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

and the line was carried through the mountains on to the
Afghan border. The condition of the country was im-
proved so greatly that distinguished visitors began to
find their way to Quetta. Among them were the Duke
and Duchess of Connaught, who stayed there in March,

1887. On this occasion the railway bridge across the
great Chappar rift was opened for traffic by the Duchess,
and its name, the " Louise Margaret " bridge, commemor-
ates the event. Later on Sir Robert was able to take a
six months' holiday in England.

He returned to Quetta in December, and in April,

1888, he was called away to Las Bela, where the chief
had died. Towards the close of this year he marched up
the Zhob valley, where he hoped that, in his own special
way, he could make friends of the chiefs, bring the tribes
under control, and put an end to the constant trouble
in that quarter. The valley was still a no-man's land,
neither British nor Afghan. Its tribes were at feud
among themselves and a pest to their neighbours.

This tour was most successful. The chiefs were re-
conciled among themselves, and Sandeman was willing
to support their authority. They petitioned that their
country might be taken under British protection — a step
which Sandeman strongly pressed. He was anxious,
not only to benefit the inhabitants, but also to gain
friendly access to the old trade route from Afghanistan,
that entered India through the Gumal pass. This route
he hoped to re-open and develop. It had long been
closed to regular and peaceful traffic by the fierce and
rapacious Waziris, through whose mountains the caravans
bought, or fought, their way to the old trading centre
of Dera Ismail Khan in the Indus valley.1 The Zhob
valley question was decided late in the year 1889. Sir
Robert's proposals were adopted, and he started from

1 It is with this large and powerful group of tribesmen that our forces
have now (1920) long been fighting in what is called the Derajat cam-
paign.

FURTHER SETTLEMENT OF BALUCHISTAN 55

Quetta for the valley in December, taking a considerable
staff and escort, and his customary following of Baluch
chiefs. When he reached the village of Apozai l he was
met by a small group of tribesmen, unmounted, ragged
and unkempt. Four or five young men came to Sande-
man's horse, kissed his hand, held his stirrup, and gave
him a letter. It was from the chief, their father, written
on his deathbed. He welcomed Sir Robert, commended
his family to his care, and prayed him to excuse his sons
if they were late for the meeting, since they had stayed
to watch their father die. Sandeman, much moved,
passed into camp.2

On December 27, Sir Robert proclaimed the pro-
tectorate of Zhob, and commenced to build the station
at Apozai, now called Fort Sandeman after its founder.
He remained there until the latter half of January, to
watch the new buildings and give time for the assembly
of the tribesmen who had been summoned from Waziri-
stan. These came in in great numbers, bristling with
arms ; but they were well disposed and tractable. When
all was in train at Apozai, the mission started for the
Gumal pass, which had not been traversed before by
any British official, marched through it and reached the
plains below. There was but one misadventure. A
non-commissioned native officer of the escort, who had
gone, against orders, some distance from camp, was
shot. Sandeman, writing, says : " The Waziris have
behaved in a most exemplary way : not even a petty
theft has occurred, and we have 700 in camp, many of
them most accomplished thieves ". At the end of Janu-
ary the pass was declared open : tribal service was ap-
portioned on a new and liberal scale and posts established.
This done, Sandeman reached the rail and moved back
to Quetta. He was attracted by the Waziris, whom he
describes as a wild but really fine people. He adds that

1 Sir T. Holdich, "The Indian Borderland," Chap. VIII.

2 The family is still cared for by the Government of India.

56 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

a little time and patience with them would give our
Government entire control of the pass. In this he was
over-sanguine, as subsequent events have shown.

Even at this time the work of settlement in this
quarter was not complete. The Shiranis, a fierce Pathan
tribe who live in the mountain range of the Suliman and
on the slopes of the great peak which is called the Takht,
or throne, of Solomon, had only in part come in to
Apozai. Two of the Zhob chiefs were "out," and had
also not come in. These men plundered the valley and
even attacked Apozai. It was necessary in the autumn
of 1890 to send a military expedition to bring them into
order. The towers of the two outlaws were blown up
and the Shiranis reduced to submission. The force met
with little resistance and returned to Quetta in November.
Sir Robert was badly hurt by a fall from his horse, which
came down with him and crushed his knee ; but there
was no rest for him. In December, 1890, he was called
to the distant coastal region, where disturbances had
broken out. The work took him far inland and was
important. He returned in February, 1891, leaving his
assistant, Major Muir, to carry it on, and planned a
journey to Calcutta where he was anxious to explain in
person certain proposals which he was making regarding
the Mekran country. But he was suddenly called back
again. Major Muir had been attacked and wounded very
seriously by one of the Mekran chiefs. The man was
well known personally to Sir Robert as a thorough
scoundrel. Muir was strolling outside his tents in the
evening with only one attendant, when he met him. The
chief cut down and killed the attendant, and Muir, who
carried only a walking stick, was terribly wounded by
sword cuts. Sir Robert reached the coast in March, and,
having sent Major and Mrs. Muir by troopship to Bombay,
arranged matters in Mekran and returned to Quetta. Here
he framed his Mekran proposals. That dry, sun-baked
border region had a great hold on him. He was most

FURTHER SETTLEMENT OF BALUCHISTAN 57

anxious to redress the misery which he found there, and
to develop the country in various ways. But his health
broke down. He was worn out by work and exposure,
and compelled to take leave home in May. He was
replaced at Quetta by Sir O. St. John, who died there
in June. Sir Robert returned in November, 1 891. He
should never have done so. But his passion for work
was strong, and Mekran had greatly moved him. The
call for one more tussle with his old enemies of misrule
and misery was irresistible. Disregarding his doctor's
urgent protests, he set his face once more to the East.

CHAPTER VIII.

LAST DAYS.

In November Sir Robert returned with Lady Sandeman
to Quetta. Much work awaited him and kept him there
till Christmas. Early in January (1892) he started for
Mekran. He sailed from Karachi with his staff on the
1 6th; but he had arranged to visit Las Bela, where the
chief and his son were at strife, on his way down the
coast, and for this purpose the party disembarked at the
little roadstead of Somniani. From this point they
marched for Bela, which was reached on January 23.
Heavy rain fell on the way. Sir Robert caught cold,
but made light of it. At Bela, where he was received with
ceremony, he was busy with work, and equal to seeing
the illuminations of the little town. But in the evening
he was very unwell and took to his bed. On the 24th
Dr. Fullerton found him down with influenza. His lungs
were affected and pleurisy set in. The camp was moved
to higher ground, and he was carried there in a litter.
On the 26th he was a little better. He sent for Hittu
Ram (the " Chronicler ") and talked with him pleasantly,
saying that he had thought yesterday that he, too, was
departing from this world, like Sir O. St. John ; and that
if Baluchistan treated him like Sir Oliver, no officer would
willingly come to take charge of it. He was anxious,
too, about the arrival in his camp of the Mekran chiefs.
But on the next day he was in high fever. Again he
spoke with Hittu Ram, saying: "Rai Sahib, I have

(58)

LAST DAYS 59

been caught as in a net. I feel very uneasy. I cannot
recollect having done an injustice to any one for which I
should suffer. Mind that no one is tyrannised over."
To Hittu Ram it then appeared that Sir Robert had be-
come conscious of the approach of the angel of death :
his conversation was of eternal separation. All was done
for him that could be done, but Sir Robert sank. He
spoke little ; but his few words were very courteous and
kind to those about him. On the 28th he was a little
better. He asked that prayers might be said, and was
anxious to say good-night to his staff. But on the 29th
he was much weaker. He spoke but little, but once or
twice he repeated the text : "If the trumpet give forth
an uncertain sound, who shall prepare for battle ? " It
may be that he was thinking of his own failing strength,
and the battle with the misery of Mekr&n, to which he
was no longer equal. In the afternoon he fainted.
When he recovered consciousness, he called for the chiefs
and his native assistants, raised his hand as they drew
near him, and heard and returned their salaams. To
Hittu Ram he whispered — "This is our last interview.
Give my salaams to all." They touched his hand and
withdrew, some with tears running down their cheeks.
He fell back on his pillow. The last words that fell from
him were " The Baluch people ". At about seven o'clock
Robert Sandeman passed away.

The grief in the camp was intense. All the Sardars
and the camp followers refused to take a morsel of food.
On the next day great numbers of them begged that they
might see his face once more. This was allowed ; and
they passed through the tent where he lay, with his
sword and decorations beside him, to make their last
salaam to one whose love for them they knew. He was
buried at Las Bela on February 1, on a spot where he
had held his Durbar in 1889, when he proclaimed the
chief. His staff and escort, the chief of Las Bela, the
Sardars of Mekrdn and some 1000 persons in all were

60 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

present to see him laid to rest. "Those," says the
Chronicler, " who had witnessed the Durbar and now saw
his burial on the same spot, were very much astonished
and overawed to see the works of Providence — that Sir
Robert, who was one day making a speech like a lion at
that place in a Durbar among thousands of men, should
now be buried there."

The Government of India deeply deplored Sir Robert
Sandeman's sudden and unexpected death ; and an
official Durbar of mourning was held at Sibi. The chiefs
and all who attended it expressed their deep sorrow, and
determined to erect a memorial to him. Offerings came
in freely, and the Sandeman Memorial Hall was erected
at Quetta. It is a fine domed building, well suited to
its purpose. Once a year the chiefs assemble there and
decide, by the usage of the country, as Sir Robert laid
down, the matters in dispute between the different tribes.
This is one of the great assizes of the country. The
other is held at Sibi in winter, in the plains below. The
Hall has been the scene of every great Durbar held in
Quetta. Viceroys have addressed gatherings there ; but
the greatest has been that presided over by His Majesty
King George, the present King-Emperor, who, when
Prince of Wales, visited Quetta in March, 1906. The
Princess, now the Queen-Empress, was with him and
witnessed the Durbar from a private gallery. In his
address the Prince recalled Sir Robert Sandeman, and
all that he had done for Baluchistan. These words went
straight to the hearts of those who heard them. Chiefs
and the sons of chiefs who had worked for and loved Sir
Robert were greatly moved.

Nor was Sandeman forgotten in his old district of
Dera Ghazi Khan. The faithful Baluch chiefs erected to
him there a memorial of their own. The Las Bela chief
built a dome over his tomb, and his resting-place there
below the Baluch mountains is still carefully tended.
The Khan of KaUt expressed profound grief. He was

LAST DAYS 61

surprised, he said, that Sir Robert's last resting-place
should be in Las Bela. "He should be buried," His
Highness continued, " either in his native home or in my
dominions. If the Las Bela chief objects, I am prepared
to send an army and forcibly convey the body from
his territory to Quetta." I doubt if any Mohammedan
ruler has ever, before or since, made such a proposal.

In my Introduction I claimed for Sir Robert a high
and honoured place among our Empire Builders. May
I hope that the claim has been made good ? For the
value, political and strategical, of Baluchistan to the
Empire I would refer the reader to the standard works
of Sir Charles Dilke and Sir Alfred Lyall.1 But Sande-
man's aim was not only to secure for the British Common-
wealth of nations a position of rightful advantage. He
knew the importance of Baluchistan as an outpost of the
Empire — none better. But he was moved also by the
strong conviction that his work was for the good of the
people of Baluchistan; and that it would give them, as
he says in one of his letters, " a larger share of happiness
in this glorious world of ours ". To his success in this
respect there is a cloud of witnesses. He was not, of
course, the first in the field. His predecessors at Kalat
were brave and able men. But they lacked the oppor-
tunity for which Sandeman had to struggle, and at last
made for himself. I doubt if there is any part of India
where our influence and authority have taken root more
kindly and rapidly than they have done in Baluchistan
under Sandeman. And yet he had not to deal with fertile
plains teeming with Hindu villages, ready to submit to
any ruler who might happen to gain power. His work

1 " Problems of Greater Britain," by Sir Charles Dilke, Vol. II. ;
*• British Dominion in India," by Sir A. Lyall, Chaps. XVII. to XIX.

62 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

lay in a wide barren region inhabited by fierce peoples,
very different from those of the Indian plains. Whether
or not he would have been successful in dealing with
Afghanistan must always be a matter of conjecture. At
one time he was willing to be sent on a mission to the
Amir. In whatever dealings he had with the Afghans
he showed himself conciliatory and just. He favoured
the restoration of Kandahar. He was averse from the
piercing of the Khojak railway tunnel, which Amir
Abdur Rahman regarded as a knife thrust in his vitals.
With his peculiar gifts he might have done much in
Afghanistan, and have made the story of our relations
with that country very different. But he did not have
the opportunity. He had hoped to carry his own
methods of friendly conciliation further with the Waziri
country. But the prospect ended with his death, and
Waziristan has since remained hostile and untameable.

Like most successful men he had critics and detractors.
His large employment of tribal levies has been called
extravagant, organised blackmail, and the like. The
criticism is ill-founded. He had no police in the tracts
which he administered or supervised. His levies did,
and do, much Government work. They are contented
and loyal and belong to the people. His police force
was confined to cantonments and towns. There was no
police oppression in Sandeman's day. Oppression of
any sort was hateful to him; and he would have no
alien departments playing mischief among his tribesmen.
His own men he kept in perfect order.

As a high official he was, probably, a mystery to
Viceroys until they knew him. Then they recognised
his sterling character and work. He never had the gift
of writing clearly and expressing, in reasoned sequence,
all that he had to say. Baluchistan, when he entered it,
was an uncharted country, largely unknown. Sandeman
knew its conditions, and expected them to be understood
equally well at Calcutta. He was something of a

LAST DAYS 63

stumbling-block to distant secretaries. His hand-writ-
ing, often almost illegible, did not help matters. Hence
his despatches were not always well received. A com-
plaint that, instead of answering a specific question, he
had telegraphed five pages of irrelevant matter, was
probably justified. In these ways Sandeman was a law
to himself. He would break every rule of correspond-
ence, and seek the aid of any personage whom he knew
in support of his plans, which were all in all to him.
His tenacity was invincible. He hated red tape, and
red tape did not always like him. In later life when he
had troublesome telegrams from the Government of India
("ring-tailed roarers" he used to call them), he would
leave the framing of the answer to his assistants, after a
talk. In work of his own choice he never grew weary.
He loved to get to the spot and see things himself. He
complains of some of his officers that they will not see
that good work means ceaseless labour. There is no
doubt that his life was shortened by toil and exposure.
A rapid journey from Zhob to the coastal country seems,
on paper, a small thing. In fact it meant a dozen long
daily marches, sometimes as long as forty miles, with a
three days' rail and steamer journey in between. Once
in the war he rode eighty miles on each of three con-
secutive days.

In his dealings with the tribesmen he was quite fear-
less. The Chronicler records that he used to travel
freely among the Baluch and Pathans and mix with
them. M He was in no danger of any sort with them,
owing to his own goodwill and pure-mindedness, so much
so that they were prepared to sacrifice their lives at his
order." His cheery but masterful presence and address
appealed to them. Once in his younger days he found
that the Murrees, who had come into Jacobabad, were
willing enough to pay their respects to the Khan ot
Kalat there, but could not stay on longer, as they were
without money. Sandeman had no authority at all in

64 SIR ROBERT SANDEMAN

the matter, but he was very anxious that they should
pay their respects to the Khan. So he had it whispered
to the Murree chief that, if one of his men stole that
night into his tent, he would find something that might
be of use to all of them under his pillow. The man
came. Sandeman watched the bearded Baluch lift the
tent curtain, felt him grope for the bag of money, and
heard him creep away with it, breathing heavily. He
used to chuckle at the story afterwards. The visit of
ceremony was paid ; but not many men would have
taken such a risk. One other instance may be given.
Once, when he was without escort in the Murree country,
the tribesmen gathered and threatened to carry off his
horses. Sandeman came out of his tent, faced the crowd,
and dared them to do it. The horses remained.

He could not, I think, be called a clever man ; nor
was he witty or widely read. His talk abounded in old
saws and sayings, and was full of interest when he was
on his own ground, where there was no better travelling
companion. Kindness and hospitality abounded in him.
Ambition he had, but no sort of self-seeking entered into
it. His shrewdness was remarkable : none of his plans
when put into effect has ended in failure or fiasco. The
punitive expeditions, which have been so often necessary
on the northern section of the frontier, have been a very
small feature in our Baluchistan story. Like most men
who have done lasting work in India, he had a mission.
His was to pacify a large wild country, and he did
it. The Chronicler sums up his career in two pregnant
sentences : " Sir Robert Sandeman was not a man of
ordinary nature. He was created by God, it would
appear, for putting in order the disturbed country of
Baluchistan, and as soon as the country was settled God
called him to Himself." Few of our countrymen have
received or deserved so noble a tribute. Robert Sande-
man did both.

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